Looking for a game you resonate with?

LORE AND SETTING

L o s t   i n   t h e   W o r l d – A c c r e t i o n

The assemblage of realities that serves as GRIMWIRE™’s setting is a homage to multifarious works of sci-fi and fantasy from diverse genres, including Xenogears, Kenshi, The Elder Scrolls, Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, BLAME!, Vampire Hunter D, and Trigun. GRIMWIRE™’s lore and setting will resonate with fans of these and similar works while presenting wholly original content. 

GRIMWIRE™ is not hard sci-fi, but does strive for a degree of believability when deploying scientific/technical concepts. This makes the fantasy elements all the more striking.

GRIMWIRE™ rules are not setting-specific, permitting game masters to run campaigns in homebrew worlds.

Gameplay

t h a t   c r a n k s   l i k e   a   d i e s l e   e n g i n e

THE MECHANICS OF GRIMWIRE™ ARE INTENDED TO BE ACCESSIBLE TO PEOPLE WHO ARE NEW TO TTRPGS.

They have been designed to balance believability with ease of play.

Here are some of GRIMWIRE™’S design features:

just enough rules

The complexity of the rules is kept to the bare minimum needed to address ambiguity and facilitate believability. Rules are also designed to be intuitive and easy to remember. Becoming so immersed in the story that you forget about the rules is the intended experience.

Every game mechanic represents something actually happening in the story. There are no points, abilities, or other elements that exist purely as backend components of gameplay.

GRIMWIRE™ is compatible with maps and minis, but it is built to be playable without them.

Character progression is limited

Leveling is infrequent and high-level characters are not gods. Players must therefore use creativity and strategy to overcome obstacles rather than relying on the brute strength of their characters. However, every stat point counts, making even small gains significant.

Classes are fluid

Rather than strict classes, GRIMWIRE™ “specialties” are simply groups of related special abilities. Although specialization is incentivized, any character can theoretically learn any ability–permitting the creation of highly customized characters.

Special abilities are meaningful

Characters don’t need special abilities to do most things, and when they are used these abilities have a significant impact on the game. Abilities are designed to be useful at all levels and many scale with character progression.

Balance? What balance!?

The fact that GRIMWIRE™ is being actively developed means that there are wild spikes in difficulty. If you want to help polish the game, please check out the playtest page. 

However, GRIMWIRE™ will always have a rawness to it. Rather than smooth gameplay perfectly tuned to character level and player ability, we prefer to offer an unpredictable experience that keeps players on their toes.